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Donald Trump Defends Initial Statement On Charlottesville

President Donald Trump defended his initial statement on the white supremacist conflict in Charlottesville, Virginia, blasted protesters “on both sides” and argued against taking down Confederate statues on Tuesday.During remarks at Trump Tower, the president put blame on all protesters who were present in Charlottesville.“You had a group on one side who was bad, and you had a group on the other side that was also very violent, and nobody wants to say that, but I’ll say it right now,” Trump said, referring to white supremacists, anti-fascists known as “antifa” and counterprotesters who converged in Charlottesville over the weekend. “You had a group on the other side that came charging in without a permit, and they were very, very violent.”But Trump also explained why he was quick to condemn any specific people in his initial statement on the protests.“You have people who are very fine people on both sides,” Trump said.He also argued he was waiting on “the facts” before condemning white supremacists Saturday.“I wanted to make sure, unlike most politicians, that what I said was correct, not make a quick statement. The statement I made on Saturday, the first statement, was a fine statement, but you don’t make statements that direct unless you know the facts,” Trump argued. “It takes a little while to get the facts. You still don’t know the facts. It is a very, very important process to me. It is a very important statement. So I don’t want to go quickly and just make a statement for the sake of making a political statement. I want to know the facts.”The president argued the removal of Confederate statues, such as the Robert E. Lee statue at the center of the Charlottesville protests, could lead to the removal of statues of historic figures like George Washington or Thomas Jefferson.On taking down Confederate Statues, Trump says, "I wonder, is it George Washington next week and Thomas Jefferson the week after?" pic.twitter.com/lXrOJ3iunA— David Mack (@davidmackau) August 15, 2017 This is a developing story. Check back for updates.